Virtual Reality for Pediatric Surgery Pain Relief: Effective but not a Substitute for Anesthesia

We've read with great interest your recent article entitled "Let Kids Play: Using Virtual Reality as a Substitute for General Anesthesia for Minor Procedures in the Pediatric Population" [1]. We commend the authors for their innovative proposal to use topical local anesthetic cream and VR technology for pediatric surgeries without sedation or general anesthesia. However, this novel strategy has several limitations, warranting further discussion: